


Bad Days

by Lapin_Calins



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 17:56:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10667826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapin_Calins/pseuds/Lapin_Calins
Summary: Donghyuck enjoys being an idol, he loves to sing and perform with his members, but it's difficult being in two units, and when the stress begins to build up, he refuses to let his hyungs think he can't handle it. Unbeknownst to himself and his members, he's reaching his breaking point.





	Bad Days

Some days are better than others. Sometimes there will be storm clouds over your sun, Taeil said, which Donghyuck found to be babyish, but never told the kind elder. Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days, Mark told him once, and for some reason sang a tune to match his advice, which he found odd, and looking back, began to wonder if he had been mocking him. Either way, Donghyuck was having a bad day. But the only problem was that his bad day had stretched into a whole week, and all the members were getting sick of it. While he had been known to be moody and often have a temper, this was something new, and it only got worse each day. The boy woke up each morning feeling exhausted from the night before. The practices were beginning to become too much, being in two subunits, but he would never let his hyungs know that. He may whine about just about everything, but he didn’t want his hyungs to think he was too weak to catch up with them when Mark was in all three units and participated in other events too. 

Bags began to settle underneath his eyes, he struggled to stay awake during school, and his body ached all over. Donghyuck spent his days waiting for night to come so he could relax and catch a few hours of sleep without having to deal with the fatigue or the pain, only to wake up each morning with the same heavy exhaustion weighing him down from the night before. A couple of hours wasn’t enough to benefit him and his schedule, but if his hyungs could do it, then so could he, he told himself. Despite how hard he tried to hide it, the pain was hard to manage without irritation, and he came to lashing out at whoever came near him when he felt especially horrible.

Examples of this were like when Mark noticed first, being used to the youngers smart remarks and sass, which despite their sharpness, were often lighthearted. But he had begun to notice how an edge had formed in Donghyuck's voice, a certain severity settling where it hadn’t been before. When he offered to help him carry his practice bag, seeing that he also had to carry his school bag and a few water bottles, he was shocked by the anger in the other's voice when he replied.

“I told you I could do it myself, just leave me alone!”

There was fire in the boy's eyes as he glared at his hyung, swiftly turning and stomping away, leaving Mark dumbfounded in his wake. This occurrence was one of many similar accounts that arose over the next few days as Donghyuck’s attitude only got worse and worse. He didn’t mean to so rude, he had only wanted to be left alone. The pain and weight of it all was hard to bear and his hyungs trying to help him only worsened his headaches. Mark tried his best to get through to his friend, to get him to open up to him about what had been bothering him for so long, but no matter how hard he tried, the younger only shut him out. While Mark continued to worry, Donghyuck felt worse and worse, the dull throbbing in his temples becoming common, his body beginning to feel sore from too much work and not enough rest, and inside he felt hurt and miserable, but told no one of how he felt in favor of covering it all up with a scowl. 

It had been about a full week since Donghyuck’s attitude had begun when he dragged himself away from the warmth of his bed in favor of a shower that morning, hoping that the hot water could give him some similar comfort when he found the door tightly shut and locked. Scrubbing a hand over his face and blinking several times to clear his sleepy vision, he hoped what he had seen was just a trick of the eye, but to no avail. A glower curled his face as he raised his fist and banged it against the door until a muffled shout drifted out of the shower.

“What? Who’s there, do you need something?”  
It was Mark. The very last person Donghyuck had wanted to see for at least an hour or so. It made him feel even worse about himself when he saw how effortlessly Mark could do everything the managers asked of him with the same amount of sleep while he was struggled with his few responsibilities. It left him feeling guilty and jealous, even though he knew he shouldn’t be. Slumping against the door, he let out a shaky sigh before turning, giving the door a hard kick, then heading off to get dressed. Mark, on the other hand was very startled by the sudden explosion of sound. He had been huddled in the shower waiting for a response to see if one of the hyungs had decided he had been in for too long and wanted him to get out so they could have their turn, when a loud thump erupted from the other side of the door, scaring the daylights out of him. The soap he had been holding had shot out off his hand, sailing out of the shower and in his effort to try and retrieve it, he had nearly slipped and cracked his head open on the tile floor. Instead, he had caught himself on the shower curtain, but managed to bang his knee against the wall.

To avoid any further injuries, he limped out of the shower tenderly clutching his leg. Confused and hurt, he hoped that they day would improve. After he had gotten ready, he met up with the others in the kitchen for breakfast, but he couldn’t help but notice Donghyuck had barely touched his cereal and instead was glaring at it as though he despised it so much he was trying to make it disappear. Puzzling over whether or not to ask how he was feeling, he stared off into space, eyes widening when he noticed his who he’d been thinking about shift in his seat. Zoning back in, Mark was met with a fierce glare courtesy of everyone’s favorite little ray of sunshine. 

“What do you want? Quit staring at me and mind your own business!” 

Mark was no longer shocked by the sharp remarks but was still hurt nonetheless at being snapped at for his concern, and he shared a look with the others that sat at the table. All the members on NCT 127 were gathered at the table, equally startled by the scathing comment. None of them approved of the boy's attitude and were honestly all sick of it, but no one was quite sure how to handle it. Stepping in and hoping to calm the situation, Taeyong eyed the boy sternly before calling out,

“Donghyuck-ah, don’t speak to your hyungs that way.”

Looking up so as to challenge who had spoken, Donghyuck opened his mouth to launch another insult when he saw that it was his leader that had reprimanded him. Taeyong hadn’t scolded the boy for his attitude since it had begun, hoping it would blow over and that he’d handle whatever little issue he was having, but the unruly teen showed no signs of stopping and it was apparent that something was wrong. The two glared at each other evenly until the younger broke eye contact and chose to glowered at his cereal instead. A silent breath of relief was released by all at the table as they regarded their youngest with mixed concern and annoyance. They loved the mood maker more than words could describe, and they wanted more than anything to help him, but he was shutting everyone out. 

 

Inside, Donghyuck was tired. Dead tired, ready to collapse in on himself like a dying star in true diva style, but he shoved those feelings down with his next spoonful of cereal despite the roiling magma in his stomach. Once he’d eaten the last few bites, the youngest shoved away his bowl and pushed himself out of his chair, the legs knocking against the floor with clacks that revealed the feelings he'd been trying sort-of-not-so hard to conceal. 

“Dongsookie-”

Flinching at the kind nickname, the miserable boy felt even worse at the kindness and concern he heard in them. But he only mumbled a weak excuse about needing to brush his teeth as he fled. They all watched the boy's retreating figure with worry as he stomped up the stairs. Resting his head in his hands, Mark’s sigh came out in a huff, catching the attention of his hyungs. Looking up to meet their gazes, his lips turned downwards in a frown and his eyes narrowed in annoyance. The others were shocked to see such an irritated expression from the member their maknae was closest to. 

“Why does he have to be such a jerk?” Mark vented, aggravation dripping from his words as he slumped back in his chair.  
Taeil was first to respond, unsure of how to handle two furious dongsaengs at the moment.

“Well, Mark, you know that he hasn’t been having a very good week and as his members we need to be there for him-”

“We have been! We’ve all tried to get him to talk to us about whatever is bothering him and he just won’t cooperate!”

Mark's’ voice had begun to grow louder and louder as his anger began to seep through his words. He was done giving kindness and only receiving scorn in turn, and he wanted to make this known to his members. They’d all begun to wince at the volume that the boys rant was reaching, hoping no one heard, and especially not their topic of discussion who was just upstairs.

“Its getting to the point that I don’t think anything is wrong, I think he just doing this to annoy the heck out of all of us! He doesn’t have to be such a-”

“MINHYUNG!”

Mark's eyes widened as he noticed Taeyong, who was glaring daggers at him, set his spoon down and regard him with a furious expression. The members rarely used his Korean name, and only when he was in deep trouble. Shifting nervously in his seat at the new tension that had filled the room, he lowered his head and glanced up at the leader. 

“You do NOT shout like that, not here, and not anywhere. None of us said that it was right he has been treating us this way, but we all know something is wrong, and it is uncompassionate of you to call him names and assume that there’s nothing wrong.”

Once the lecture had ceased, all the eyes in the room shifted to the boy in question, who was staring down at his hands in his lap, cheeks colored pink in shame. 

“I...I know, it’s just, I’m frustrated at his attitude even though we’ve all been trying to help him.” Mark was ashamed at himself and couldn't find any other way to describe how he felt.

Nodding with a sigh, Jaehyun spoke up, “We know, Mark, we all feel that way, but he just has to tell us in his own time, even if it takes all week. If it lasts any longer, we may need to figure something else out, but for now we all just need to be patient.” 

All the others agreed and each began to munch on their breakfast in silence, everyone too caught up in their own thoughts on the situation to say anything. The tense atmosphere had dissipated and left only confusion and worry in its place. Unbenounced to those at the breakfast table, their mood maker sat deflated on the top step of the stairs. He had stopped when he’d heard Mark first speak, and after listening to all that they had to say, especially how hurt Mark had sounded, he was crushed. Regret and guilt had broken through his wall of exhaustion and anger, only making it all worse as he sat there, trying his best not to cry. 

Swiping at his eyes, Donghyuck got up from where he sat to pad down the hall to the bathroom to try and hide the evidence of his teary eyes and flushed cheeks. As he ran the warm water and looked at himself in the mirror, he wondered how he was going to fix everything. His thoughts drifted to the members and how he had been acting. He hadn’t meant to hurt any of them, honestly. It had all just been too much, and he hadn’t wanted to worry them, but obviously he had failed and only made everything worse. Sniffling slightly, he crept out of the bathroom to pull on a hoodie in preparation for practice and let the same bored, if slightly pissed, expression slip back onto his face. 

 

The ride over to the practice room was pretty quiet with only quiet chatter from Yuta and Sicheng as the elder tried to explain what they'd be going over at practice today. The rest of the members wondered what could be the matter with their maknae, and Donghyuck was busy trying to pretended he couldn't feel any of the emotions that were crushing him. Once they had parked and all clambered out of the van, they began to make their way up the stairs to practice the choreography for Limitless. Donghyuck trudged behind them, dragging his feet as he dreaded what he knew would be an exhausting 3 hours that would leave him even more sore. 

Pushing open the door, the members trickled in and began to stretch in preparation, but Doyoung had forgot the youngest was behind him and the door had clipped his shoulder as he hadn't pushed it open far enough. This small pain only added the stress on his mind, but he pushed past it and tossed his bag to the floor, joining his hyungs in stretching. When they had all prepped, they stood in formation for Limitless, some bouncing energetically, while Donghyuck stared at the floor, stock still, wishing he could curl up in a ball if it meant avoiding this. 

The booming of the base filled the room as the song began, and Donghyuck felt his limbs begin to move in sync with the others, the choreography drilled into his mind from past practices. His arms felt heavy as he danced, and his legs burned as he lunged low, face contorting in pain. As he made his way towards the front to pass the others when his line came, Taeyong brushed past him a little too hard, completely unintentionally, but Donghyuck’s feet tangled together and he tripped, arms knocking against the hard floor and his cheek smacking against the wood. Everyone paused in their movements, looking down at the youngest who had managed to peel himself off the ground and roll back into a sitting position. Part of him told himself to get up and brush it off, to move on, but that voice was growing quieter and quieter as his emotions began to war inside of him. He had reached his breaking point, and everything was falling out of place now.

The members grew horrified when they saw the boy's shoulders begin to shake, his head hanging low as tears began to flow out of his screwed shut eyes. Hands curling into fists, they came up to rub furiously at his eyes as he wept, resenting the fact that he had begun to break down. He wouldn’t admit it, but the release of emotion made him feel the slightest bit better. Mark was first to react, all previous anger gone as he rushed to the boys’ side, pulling him into a hug. Donghyuck’s body sagged as he let himself lean into Mark's arms, burying his face in the elder’s shoulder. His breath began to shorten into small gasps because of the sobs that wracked his small frame, arms weakly snaking around his hyungs’ waist. The others rushed to join the hug, wrapping round each other as they rubbed soothing circles into his shoulders, squeezed him tightly, and muttered words of comfort. 

“I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry…” Frantic apologies were all he could muster in his exhausted state, but that was enough for the members. Tears were soaking Mark’s collar and shoulder, but he didn't mind right now, he himself was feeling a little guilty about how he’d acted, but was overwhelmingly relieved that Donghyuck was letting them in. They stayed like that for awhile, holding each other as Donghyuck let all the emotions, fears, and stress go, causing him to deflate in their arms. 

The kind words and cuddles ceased once the boy had calmed down, and the members scooted away to give Donghyuck some room to speak. Looking up, eyes red, face flushed, and nose running, he found he wasn't quite sure how to tell his members what he had been hiding. His warring thoughts were put on hold momentarily when Doyoung handed him a towel to dry his eyes, and Taeyong pushed a cold water bottle into his hands. Taking a sip to soothe his burning throat and patting away the wetness around his eyes, he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He slumped back against Mark's shoulder as he tried to figure out what to say, and thinking of how he'd been feeling for the past week brought the tears back.

“I've been feeling...exhausted...” he began, and when no one said anything, he went on. 

“The practices for both units have been too much for me, I’m not getting enough sleep to keep up and I’m really sore. I can't keep w-working like this, I'm tired all the time and m-my body h-hurts, and I just-I can't-”

The tears began to flow once more, stinging his cheeks as he hid his face in his hands. Jaeyhun rubbed his arm while Mark squeezed him affectionately.

“A-and I'm sorry if that makes me sound w-weak cause I can't handle it-” 

“Donghyuck,”

Peeking out of his fingers with teary eyes, he saw Taeyong's compassionate look as he reached out to put his hands on his shoulders.

“It is okay that you can't handle it, we don't expect you to be able to be perfect all the time.”

“But Mark is in three units and he doesn't-”

“Even I take breaks sometimes,” Mark assured him. “I just ask the manager for some time off if the schedules allow it, and Taeyong makes him understand why.”

This claim was affirmed by the leader with a nod. 

“The manager knows you are in two active units right now, he'll understand if you need rest.”

Donghyuck nodded weakly, but was thankful that his members understood. As Taeyong got up to make a call to talk to the manager, Donghyuck began to feel guilty again that everyone was so nice to him when he’d treated them all like dirt for a week. Looking down at his knees, he mumbled quietly. 

“I'm sorry…”

He felt someone pat his cheek to get his attention and shifting his gaze up, he saw that Johnny had scooted in front of him. With kind eyes, he did as Taeyong had, placing his large hands on his shoulders. 

“We understand that you were exhausted and unwell, but the way you acted wasn't the right thing to do.”

Looking down in shame, Donghyuck felt tears prick his eyes once more. Noticing this, Johnny gently took a hold of Donghyuck’s chin and lifted until the younger stared back at him with a miserable gaze. 

“You made a mistake, and that's okay. What matters is that you learn from this and do better next time. You need to tell us what's wrong instead of shutting us out, Donghyuck-ah. We won't judge you for how you're feeling, you need to trust us. We can't help you if you keep pushing us away, okay?”

Nodding with a sniffle, the youngest let himself be pulled out of Mark's arms temporarily into Johnny's warm hug, finally feeling the last of his guilt dissipate, leaving only the exhaustion. When Taeyong returned he motioned for Taeil, Johnny and Yuta over to speak to the manager as well, who was probably being difficult. Relaxing back against Mark, Donghyuck noticed how tense the other was. Realizing feelings in the other he had held until a minute ago, he mumbled “I heard what you said. About me.”

Mark's emotions became apparent as his lips curved downwards and his arched eyebrows furrowed.

“I'm sorry...for saying all those things, I just..care about you a lot, and it hurts when you won't let me know what's wrong. But I shouldn't have said what I did, it was-”

“It's okay, I know I acted like a jerk, and I'm sorry too...It was Uncompassionate!” Donghyuck assured him, imitating Taeyong’s deep voice jokingly, causing Mark to laugh as he relaxed, relieved to know he was forgiven. When the hyungs returned they told him that he had the next two days off, obviously successful in wearing the manager down, and if he needed more then to tell them, and Donghyuck smiled gratefully, making sure to thank all of them.

“Now, we're going home.” Doyoung said, trying to shoo him out of the room. 

“What?” The boy queried in confusion as he was pulled to his feet by the mom of the group. Before he could reply, he felt himself pulled into the elder’s arms as his feet left the ground. Retrieving their practice bags from where they lay against the wall, Doyoung began to retreat from the room, A confused Donghyuck slung over his shoulder. 

“You need to get some rest and you can't stay home alone, God knows what trouble you'll get into. We need the dorm still standing when the others get back from practice.” 

Relaxing in his hyungs' hold, he let himself be carried out of the room, resting his head on Doyoung's shoulder as he blinked sleepily. The exhaustion was winning him over since he felt comfortable and cared for now, and he took one last gaze around the practice room before he was carried out, eyes settling on Mark and giving him a small wave before he let his eyes slip closed and he felt beggining himself drift off. Although he didn't see, Mark beamed, glad to see his friend would finally get the rest he deserved. As Donghyuck let sleep overtake him, he was glad his hyungs understood and cared so much for him, and he made it a point to make sure to make up for the past week in the future. A small smile settled on his heart shaped lips as he sighed happily. While the member’s all thought he was the devil in disguise, he knew they all loved him, and that made him feel better than any medicine or nap could.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this, I always feel like Donghyuck deserves a break as much as Mark does, and we all know how much everyone loves him, even if he is such a savage. If anyone has any suggestions for future works, I'd love to hear them!


End file.
